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The '''Irish War of Independence''' (1919-1921) was fought between Britain and Irish nationalists seeking to create an independent Irish republic. The protagonists were on the British side the British Army and the [[Royal Irish Constabulary]] (RIC) and on the Irish side the [[Irish Republican Army]] (IRA), formerly known as the [[Irish Volunteers]].

The '''Irish War of Independence''' (1919-1921) was fought between [[Britain]] and [[Irish]] nationalists seeking to create an independent Irish republic. The protagonists were on the British side the British Army and the [[Royal Irish Constabulary]] (RIC) and on the Irish side the [[Irish Republican Army]] (IRA), formerly known as the [[Irish Volunteers]].

The war was a [[guerrilla]] conflict, and the main areas of combat were [[Dublin]] and the remote areas of south-west Ireland. Assassinations and atrocities were carried out by both sides. The British government notoriously set up two paramilitary formations attached to the RIC: the ''Black and Tans'', a reserve police unit recruited from British ex-servicemen and named for the mix of the dark green RIC uniforms and khaki British army uniforms that they wore, and the Police Auxiliaries (''Auxies''), recruited from ex-officers. Both the Tans and the Auxies gained a fearsome reputation for violence and indiscipline, and were implicated in the burning of the city centre of [[Cork]] in reprisal for an IRA attack. In the countryside of south-west Ireland, the IRA were able to establish some territorial control - British units could enter only in heavily-armoured columns, and were prey to ambushes - but in Dublin it was restricted to hit-and-run attacks. There were two major exceptions. On 20 November 1920, known as '[[Bloody Sunday]]', IRA gunmen killed 14 British secret service agents in the city; in reprisal, that afternoon British troops surrounded the [[Croke Park]] sports ground where a [[Gaelic Football]] match was taking place and fired into the crowd, killing 14 spectators.  On 25 May 1921 a large IRA formation captured and burned the Custom House in Dublin, destroying the tax records of Ireland (and much other material besides).  

The war was a [[guerrilla]] conflict, and the main areas of combat were [[Dublin]] and the remote areas of south-west Ireland. Assassinations and atrocities were carried out by both sides. The British government notoriously set up two paramilitary formations attached to the RIC: the ''Black and Tans'', a reserve police unit recruited from British ex-servicemen and named for the mix of the dark green RIC uniforms and khaki British army uniforms that they wore, and the Police Auxiliaries (''Auxies''), recruited from ex-officers. Both the Tans and the Auxies gained a fearsome reputation for violence and indiscipline, and were implicated in the burning of the city centre of [[Cork]] in reprisal for an IRA attack. In the countryside of south-west Ireland, the IRA were able to establish some territorial control - British units could enter only in heavily-armoured columns, and were prey to ambushes - but in Dublin it was restricted to hit-and-run attacks. There were two major exceptions. On 20 November 1920, known as '[[Bloody Sunday]]', IRA gunmen killed 14 British secret service agents in the city; in reprisal, that afternoon British troops surrounded the [[Croke Park]] sports ground where a [[Gaelic Football]] match was taking place and fired into the crowd, killing 14 spectators.  On 25 May 1921 a large IRA formation captured and burned the Custom House in Dublin, destroying the tax records of Ireland (and much other material besides).